Submarines, bats, and even humans can echolocate, but they need high-end acoustic gear, brainpower, or training in order to do it. Now electrical engineer Ivan Dokmanić, of the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), in Switzerland, could bring that capability to smartphones. He has used echolocation combined with a simple algorithm and off-the-shelf microphones to map part of a complex structure—the Lausanne Cathedral. Used in reverse, this kind of technology could one day help smartphones find their location inside buildings.

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